Current Events in Mideast-Africa

Triumphant Syrian Rebels Seize Fighter Jets (DefenseNews)

From The Telegraph

How the Shah of Iran chose the F-14 Tomcat over the F-15 Eagle (The Aviationist blog)

For a related HCCE scenario, check out "My Love is Vengeance" for the EC2003 IOPG battleset at the Harpgamer Scenarios page. From Navy Times June 06, 2006 Deployment could take Cole to area of 2000 attack By William H. McMichael Times staff writer NORFOLK NAVAL STATION, Va. — The crew of the destroyer Cole is getting ready to deploy once again. But this time, its sailors could end up operating in the vicinity of the October 2000 terrorist attack that crippled and nearly sank the ship. It would be natural to assume that everyone on board would love to sail to Yemen and the waters off east Africa to somehow “get back” at al-Qaida — which investigators say…

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

From DefenseNews Posted 02/19/07 08:45 UAEAF Signs Tanker Aircraft MOU with EADS By RIAD KAHWAJI, ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates In a surprise announcement, United Arab Emirates officials declared that the country’s Air Force and Air Defense Command has picked the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport Aircraft (MRTT) as its preferred choice for a contract to provide three aerial tankers. “The UAE Armed Forces has signed today [Feb. 19] a Memo of Understanding [MOU] with EADS for the tanker aircraft,” said Maj.Gen. Obaid Al-Ketbi, the UAE Armed Forces Chief of Logistics, at a press conference at the International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX-07) in…

US Criticizes UN Nuclear Watchdog Agency Voice of America The United States has blasted the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency for failing to report Iran's longstanding non-compliance with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The criticism came on the first working day of a treaty review conference at U.N. headquarters, where VOA's Peter Heinlein picks up the story. U.S. State Department official Andrew Semmel Thursday accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of failing to act on its own findings that Iran was violating the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Speaking to a conference on strengthening the treaty, Mr. Semmel noted that IAEA Director Mohammed El…

From eDefense Saudi Arabia to Buy Typhoon Aircraft Source: UK Ministry of Defense Dec. 22, 2005 The governments of Saudi Arabia and the UK have today signed an "understanding document" intended to establish a greater partnership in modernizing the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and developing close service-to-service contacts, especially through joint training and exercises. As part of this, the BAE Systems will invest in local Saudi companies, develop an industrial technology transfer plan, and provide suitable training for thousands of Saudi nationals providing through-life support for key in-service equipments. In addition, under the terms of the signed d…

From DefenseNews Posted 02/19/07 14:36 Putin Talks Arms, Nuclear Power in Gulf Visit By NABI ABDULLAEV, MOSCOW On the first tour by a Russian head of state to the Arabian Gulf countries, President Vladimir Putin offered weapons and nuclear power technologies to Saudi Arabia, coordination in trading in natural gas in Qatar, and sold arms and emerged as a power broker in Middle East affairs while in Jordan. Putin traveled to the three Gulf countries Feb. 11-13, right after he blasted the United States and its “unilateralist” actions in Iraq during a speech at a defense conference in Munich. In public appearances and private meetings, the president used his trip t…

From DefenseNews Iran Hits Back After Ejection From Arms Fair agence france-presse Published: 30 Apr 16:33 EDT (12:33 GMT) KUALA LUMPUR - Iran on April 30 expressed regret it had been thrown out of an international arms fair last week even after removing items deemed to break United Nations resolutions. Iran's display at the fair in Kuala Lumpur was shut down when Malaysian deputy premier Najib Razak said that the host nation would not allow "lethal and offensive equipment in violation of the U.N. resolutions" to be put on show. On April 30 Iran complained that organizers of the Defense Services Asia exhibition had refused to let its display re-open desp…

From Reuters [excerpt]

Der Speigel: Israel preparing strike to take out Iranian nuclear sites Posted: 12/27 From: Israel Insider The German weekly Der Spiegel reported Saturday that the Mossad has marked six Iranian nuclear facilities as targets for an Israeli Air Force pre-emptive strike. An unnamed IAF pilot told the weekly that such a mission would be "complex, but feasible." The Los Angeles Times reported that Israel has modified U.S.-made Harpoon cruise missiles so it can launch nuclear warheads from submarines. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered Mossad chief Meir Dagani to devote "utmost efforts" to gather information about Iran's growing nuclear capabilities, Maariv reported …

From DefenseNews Posted 02/20/07 11:06 Iran Stages War Games as U.S. Carrier Arrives in Gulf AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TEHRAN, Iran Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards on Feb. 20 staged a war game simulating an enemy airstrike as a second nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in regional waters in an apparent warning to Tehran. The Revolutionary Guards’ land forces fought back the hypothetical airstrike from enemy helicopters, planes and missiles with 620 anti-aircraft cannon and shoulder missiles, state television said. "Today, we are fighting back at all kinds of planes at low and average altitudes," said Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the commander of t…

San Diego Union-Tribune June 15, 2007 Vietnam-Era Aircraft Combatting Roadside Bombs In Iraq By Jim Krane, Associated Press ABOARD THE CARRIER NIMITZ IN THE GULF – A secret aircraft that debuted in Vietnam and usually protects U.S. fighter jets has taken on a different and crucial task over Iraq – trying to stop roadside bombs by jamming ground signals from mobile phones and garage door openers. The EA-6B Prowler is thought to be one of the most effective U.S. weapons against the bombs, the biggest killer of U.S. service members in Iraq. But no one can be sure: Even supporters say its effectiveness is hard to measure. The aircraft had its debut at th…

Israel, India Advance Co-Development of Ship-Defense System (Defense Aerospace)

Russia Lifts Its Ban on Delivery of S-300 Missiles to Iran (Wall Street Journal)

From Jane's Opinion: Gripen hard to beat in Indian MMRCA contest By Craig Caffrey 05 August 2008 While there is no shortage of fighter aircraft procurement programmes currently under way, the most eagerly anticipated contest is undoubtedly India's medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement for at least 126 aircraft. The six contenders have now submitted their proposals: Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault's Rafale, Eurofighter's Typhoon, Lockheed Martin's F-16, Russian Aircraft Corporation's (RAC's) MiG with the MiG-35 and the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Arguably each aircraft stands a fighting chance of securing the lucrative USD10 billion contract.…

From DefenseNews Russian Firm Confirms Syria Deal for MiGs AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 3 Sep 2009 06:37 MOSCOW - A top Russian official confirmed the existence of a contract for the supply of MiG-31 fighter jets to Syria but said work on the planes had been frozen, the daily Kommersant reported Sept. 3. "A few years ago, two contracts were signed: one for [the supply to Syria of] MiG-29s and one for MiG-31s," the head of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation, Alexei Fedorov, told the paper. "Consultations on this contract are now ongoing, so its future is unclear." Kommersant reported in May that Russia had halted work on the modernization of the figh…

From the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA): Outside In: Operating from Range to Defeat Iran's Anti-access/Area Denial Threats (PDF)

For those of you contemplating Persian Gulf scenarios, this might be helpful. Pictorial: Units of the U.S. Navys Naval Forces Central Command (DefenseNews, Intercepts blog)